


Choose To Be Me

by StilesSmiles



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multimedia, Musician!Dex, NHL!Chowder, Poet!Nursey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StilesSmiles/pseuds/StilesSmiles
Summary: Dex is a musician, Nursey is poet. Dex accidentally wrote a song using Nursey's poem so now they have to go on a promo tour together. The only problem is: they hate each other.





	Choose To Be Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pugglemuggle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pugglemuggle/gifts).



> Alright, so I can't write songs or poems so the song in this fic is 'Choose to be me' by Sunrise Avenue. The title also comes from that song. Obviously I don't own it or any of the characters in this fic (except for Lauren and Gemma).  
>   
> I hope you like it.

* * *

  
  
  
  
Will knew Chowder was right of course, it's just that he really wasn't lying when he said that he and Nursey hated each other. They had went to college together and unfortunately also played on the same hockey team and from the moment they had met it was clear that they weren't going to get along. Will absolutely could not deal with Nurse's so-called “chill” and his attitude towards money. Nursey on the other hand seemed to think that Will was nothing more than a conservative, tight-laced Republican and Will had just never bothered to try and correct him. (Not that he had given Nursey the chance to prove that Will had misjudged him either but he didn't dwell on that).  
  
Either way, he really had been in this slump for too long and this new song felt like something special so he had to just suck it up and call Nurse.  
  
  
  
Will wasn't surprised to see that Nursey read the texts immediately, when they were in college Nursey had basically been glued to his phone. He was however surprised that Nursey actually picked up his phone when he called.  
  
“Nurse,” was all Will said, unable to be any nicer, even though he wanted something from Nursey.  
  
“You called me, you could at least pretend to be friendly,” Nursey chirped him. Which was to be expected.  
  
“Sorry,” Will gritted out. Nursey gasped dramatically on the other end.  
  
“Did you just apologise to me?! Did you fall on your head? Are you dying?” Will really wanted to strangle Nursey right now.  
  
“Shut up, Nurse,” Will said, almost evenly.  
  
“There he is, can't say I missed you,” Nursey told him, which was fair and the feeling was definitely mutual.  
  
“Listen, here's the thing,” Dex said, cutting right to the chase to get this over with as soon as possible, “I read your last tweet and I got inspired and I wrote a song and I'd really like to turn it into a single and put it on my next album but obviously I need your permission to do that.”  
  
“So you need something from me,” Nursey said, the smirk evident in his voice.  
  
“Honestly, screw you, I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea,” Will groaned.  
  
“Hey, despite what you may think, I'm not actually an asshole. Just let me have this, in college you would've never admitted you liked my poetry,” Nursey said, toning the smug down a little. Will would never admit how much he appreciated that.  
  
“You never showed me any of your poetry in college,” Will shot back.  
  
“Would you have told me you liked it, if I had showed you?” Nursey asked sceptically.  
  
“Probably not. And to be honest, I only realised it was your poetry after I had already written the song,” Will admitted, deciding to lay all his cards on the table.  
  
“Well man, that sounds like fate then and who am I to stand in the way of fate?” Nursey said.  
  
Will rolled his eyes, glad that Nursey couldn't see him and also glad that Nursey was giving him permission. “So I can use those lines?” he asked to be sure.  
  
“Yes, you can William, it'd better become a hit though,” Nursey said fake-threateningly.  
  
“I'll do my best, I've definitely got a good feeling, though,” Will told him.  
  
“Swawesome. Hey, could you send it to me? I'd like to hear it,” Nursey asked.  
  
Will sucked in a breath, he wasn't sure he wanted to let the person who was possibly his biggest enemy hear a song so personal but it was based on Nursey's poetry so he probably owed it to him. Plus, even if he didn't send him the song, Nursey could just listen to it once he released it so it wouldn't really make a difference either way.  
  
“It's not completely done yet but yeah, I'll send it to you when it's ready,” Will said.  
  
“Thanks man,” Nursey said.  
  
“Right, bye then,” Will said awkwardly.  
  
“Bye, Poindexter,” Nursey said and hung up.

* * *

  


* * *

* * *

  
  
Today was the second time this week that Chowder was right about him and Nurse and Will didn't want to admit it. Of course he had noticed that him and Nursey were writing about similar experiences, hell Nursey had explicitly texted him just that. He just didn't want to think about what that meant.  
  
He was pulled out of his thoughts by his phone ringing.  
  
“Hey Lauren,” he greeted his agent.  
  
“Everybody at the studio loves the new song, they all agree that it should be your next single,” Lauren told him, cutting right to the chase as always.  
  
“That's great, I'm actually really proud of that song,” Will admitted.  
  
“You should, it's good,” Lauren said. “So, listen, I talked to PR and they think it'd be a good idea if you did the promo work together with Derek Nurse ...”  
  
“They think what?!” Will interrupted her incredulously.  
  
“Don't interrupt me,” Lauren reprimanded him. “The song is based on his poem so it only makes sense. I already reached out to his agent and she agrees with us, he's releasing his next book of poems soon so it'd be good promo for him as well.”  
  
“I'm sorry, Lauren, but I'm not going on a promo tour with Derek Nurse, anything but that,” Will told her stubbornly.  
  
“Why not? It only makes sense. And didn't you go to college with him? You already spent four years with him, how bad can a promo tour be?” Lauren asked. Will had told her that he knew Nursey when he had showed her the new song but he hadn't told her how much he couldn't stand Nursey.  
  
“Bad. Nursey and I hate each other, there's no way it's gonna end well for either of us if you force us together for a prolonged period of time,” Will explained to her.  
  
“Honestly, Will, that was three years ago. You need to get over yourself and do this because you don't actually have a choice, it's already been decided,” Lauren said, leaving no room for argument.  
  
“Fine but I'm not gonna be happy about it,” Will grumbled.  
  
“As long as you hide it in front of any cameras, I don't care,” Lauren told him and hung up. 

* * *

  
  
Will didn't deem that worthy of a response. He didn't want to get into it over text now, they were about to spend a couple of weeks in close proximity and he wanted to relish the few Nursey free days he had left.

* * *

Will woke up at 5am the morning his promo tour was supposed to start. His new song was to be played for the first time on New York's favourite breakfast show and he had to be there for it. Him and Nursey. What a joy.  
  
Surprisingly, Nursey was already there when Will got to the studio. He had not expected him to be there first. It would appear Nursey had gotten more punctual in the three years since they had graduated. Or he had people now to make sure he was on time. The latter seemed likelier to Will but then again he wasn't exactly unbiased when it came to Derek Nurse.  
  
“Alright, boys, now that you're both here you can go right on in and we'll get you hooked up,” a short, brunette woman said who Will assumed worked for the radio station. He followed her and Nursey into the booth and let another employee hook him up to a mic and headphones. Then the host came in and introduced herself quickly before they started the show. Will actually knew her already. Her name was Gemma and he had been on her show a couple times before and he quite liked her. She understood that giving interviews wasn't his favourite pastime and she didn't ask probing or inappropriate questions. He made a mental note to thank Lauren later for arranging Gemma's show as their first interview.  
  
“Good morning, lovely listeners, your favourite host is here to light up your morning and get you ready for work or school or wherever else you have to be at this time of day. And today I have a special treat for you, with me right here, right now are upcoming rockstar Will Poindexter and the guy who's singlehandedly making poetry cool again, Derek Nurse. Welcome!”  
  
“Good morning, Gemma, thanks for having us,” Derek said, “even though I'd like you more if you had an afternoon show,” he added, grinning.  
  
“Well, some of us like to get things done during the day,” Gemma countered.  
  
“Same,” Will said, mostly to oppose Nursey. He wasn't as much of a late riser as Nursey but 5am was a little early even for him.  
  
“A man of few words, as always,” Gemma chirped him. “Alright then, let's not keep our listeners waiting. We'll play the song and then we can talk about it after. So here it is, the song you've all been waiting for, ['Choose to be me'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQ1XowkZsc) by Will Poindexter,” Gemma announced.  
  
Will was admittedly a little nervous, he was really proud of the song and it was so personal to him. On the one hand he was just glad that he could put it out there, tell the world how he was feeling (it had taken him quite a while to be okay with that) without worrying what anybody thought of it but on the other hand he wanted people to like the song. Plus his livelihood kinda depended on it.  
  
“Wow, I'm impressed, that's a really great song, Will. And it felt quite personal, what inspired you to write it?” Gemma asked once the song was over.  
  
“Thanks Gemma,” Will said. “Truth be told, I was in a bit of a slump until Nursey – I mean Derek, sorry – he tweeted a part of a poem he was writing and that's actually what inspired me. So the first four lines of the song are Derek's.”  
  
“So Derek, let's pass the question to you then. What's that poem about? And do you think Will managed to capture that in his song?” Gemma asked, turning to Nursey.  
  
“You got it right, actually, it is very personal. I'm a black pansexual guy with two mothers and I went to possibly the whitest school in America so I didn't quite fit in. And nobody ever outright told me I had to change but it always felt like they wanted me to, only they acted like it would be for my own good and it took me a while to put that behind me. That's what the poem is about and I think Will did a really great job of describing what it was like even though he only had the first four lines. I can definitely identify with the song,” Nursey explained. Will was taken aback, Nursey had told him that he identified with the song before but never in so many words and Will also hadn't known about Nursey's high school experience. For the first time since meeting him Will realised that he might've been wrong in calling Nursey privileged.  
  
“Damn, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Maybe this song will help another kid dealing with the same thing,” Gemma said, clearly touched by Nursey's story and his honesty. “So Will, what's the story behind the song for you?” she added.  
  
“It's kinda similar but also not, I guess,” Will started.  
  
“Eloquent as always,” Nursey chirped.  
  
“Shut up, we can't all be English majors,” Will said before he could stop himself. He just hoped it came of as playful teasing, if anybody got the impression that him and Nursey didn't like each other Lauren would tear him a new one. Even if it was true.  
  
“You do make your living by writing lyrics though,” Nursey shot back.  
  
Gemma laughed at them and interrupted before the conversation could get completely derailed, “Why don't we get back to Will and his story? Although I'm sure our listeners wouldn't mind hearing you two tease each other some more. It's very entertaining, I gotta say.” Thank God for Gemma, she had probably just saved Will from a lecture from Lauren.  
  
“Alright. So for me it's also about trying to be myself in an environment where that wasn't entirely accepted. I'm from a small conservative fishing town and straying from the norm isn't something that happens very often there. Or something that is encouraged. And you know I'm gay and I'm okay with that now, okay enough to be publicly out even but for the longest time I wasn't. It took me years to realise that there was nothing wrong with me and that's what the song is about. Accepting myself,” Will explained. He thought back to when his music career had first taken of and he had decided that he had hidden long enough, that if he was gonna be in the spotlight he wanted to do it as himself. It had been so scary to come out back then and it was still a little scary now saying things like that on the radio but it was also easier. He had accepted that there were always going to be people who didn't like him no matter what he did.  
  
“Different experiences but you both learned the same lesson from it, I like it,” Gemma said.  
  
For the rest of the interview they talked about their time at college together and Will was somewhat surprised that they managed to make it seem like they hadn't wanted to kill each other basically all the time.

* * *

  
  
  
Will put his phone down and couldn't help but smile a bit. Maybe Nursey was right. Maybe the promo tour really wouldn't be so bad. A lot could change in three years and it was becoming evident that maybe they had both misjudged each other.  
  
Will was pulled from his thoughts by his phone ringing. He was surprised to see that it was Nursey.  
  
“Hey man,” he greeted him, trying out what it was like to treat Nursey like a friend. Or at least a person he didn't hate.  
  
“Hey bro, how's it going?” Nursey asked.  
  
Will rolled his eyes, “You saw me like an hour ago.”  
  
“Not one for small talk I see. Could've guessed that,” Nursey said. Will could swear he was smirking.  
  
“Nope. So what's up?” Will asked.  
  
“I thought we could talk. I think maybe we both weren't quite fair in our judgements of each other and it's probably about time we cleared that up,” Nursey said. Will had to admit that he was glad Nursey had called. Talking things out was a good idea and he could admit (if only to himself) that he probably wouldn't have called Nursey himself.  
  
“Yeah, I think you're right,” Will said. “I'm sorry for misjudging you and then not giving you the chance to prove me wrong. And for being pissed at you for doing the same to me.” Nursey had already proven to be the bigger man by calling him in the first place so Will thought he could be the one to start off with apologising.  
  
“Holy shit, did you just apologise?” Nursey asked incredulously.  
  
“Isn't that why you called?” Will asked, not fighting the urge to roll his eyes again. It wasn't like Nursey could see him.  
  
“Yeah but I don't think I really believed it would work,” Nursey admitted.  
  
“Thanks for giving me so much credit,” Will said sarcastically. He wasn't really mad though, they didn't exactly have the best track record so he couldn't fault Nursey for not being sure that this would work.  
  
“Sorry,” Nursey said. “I guess it's my turn to apologise then. I'm sorry for the same things. Turns out you're not that bad.”  
  
“Why thank you, I feel so honoured now,” Will smirked.  
  
“You should, a lot of people would kill for the chance to be friends with me,” Derek said. Friends, Will liked the sound of that.  
  
“So we're friends now?” Will asked.  
  
“Yep,” Derek answered, popping the p, “you're stuck with me now.”  
  
“Oh damn,” Will groaned but they both knew he didn't mean it.

* * *

Doing the promo tour while being friends with Nursey was both better and worse than Will had originally thought the tour was gonna be. Better because they had to spend a lot of time together and that was definitely nicer and easier when they weren't openly antagonising each other. And worse because now that he didn't hate Nursey anymore his attraction to him was coming back full force. The very first time Will had seen Nursey before they had said a single word to each other, Will had had an “oh no, he's hot” moment. Of course then Nursey had opened his mouth and Will immediately disliked him and that had always overshadowed his attraction. And now he didn't have that anymore. And to make matters even worse Nursey had only gotten hotter in the three years since graduating college.

* * *

  
  
  
  
Will sighed. Chowder was of course right. Again. He still couldn't make himself tell Nursey about his crush, though. They had only just managed to be friends, he didn't want to make it weird between them. Especially since they still had to spend another week in close proximity to each other.

* * *

Today was the last day of the promo tour and Will had made a decision. He didn't want to go back to being the scared little kid that he had been back in Maine so today he was going to ask Nursey on a date. And if he didn't feel the same way they never had to see each other again. Or he could at least take some time to get over it. Chowder probably wouldn't let them go back to not talking to each other now that they were finally friends.  
  
He walked down the hotel corridor and knocked on Nursey's door.  
  
“It's open,” Nursey shouted. Will took a deep breath and opened the door.  
  
“Hey bro, can't get enough of me?” Nursey joked, not knowing how close to the truth that was.  
  
“I need to talk to you, actually,” Will said.  
  
“That sounds serious. D'you wanna sit down?” Nursey asked. Will nodded and did just that.  
  
“Alright, so, I'm just gonna ask,” Will said, psyching himself up. “Doyouwannagoonadatewithme?”  
  
“Sorry, I didn't catch that,” Nursey said a little sheepishly.  
  
Will took another deep breath and repeated his question, slower this time. “Do you wanna go on a date with me?”  
  
Nursey was silent. So long in fact that Will was starting to feel even more awkward than he did before he came over. “Okay, I'm just … gonna go then,” Will said, getting up.  
  
He was just about to open the door when Nursey called out, “Will, wait.” He stopped but he didn't turn around, he didn't think he could face Nursey right now.  
  
“Yes,” Nursey said quietly. That did make Will turn around.  
  
“What?” he asked cautiously.  
  
“Yes, I'll go on a date with you,” Nursey repeated. Will could feel a grin start to spread over his face. Nursey grinned back at him.  
  
“So, would it be okay if I kissed you?” Nursey asked.  
  
“Very,” Will said. Nursey came over to where Will was still standing by the door. He came to a stop right in front of him. Will leaned closer and so did Nursey until they were finally, finally kissing. His last thought before he couldn't think about anything but Nursey's lips on his was how glad he was that he had never unfollowed Nursey on twitter and that he had written that song. Because it had led him to standing here in Nursey's hotel room, making out with him and there wasn't anywhere he'd rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr](http://lovingeachdayasifitsthelast.tumblr.com/) if you like :-)


End file.
